Sox take look at veteran Phillips
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
The Red Sox made a move yesterday that could fill a concerning hole at second base, signing Brandon Phillips to a minor league deal.
A 16-year veteran, Phillips, who turns 37 today, has not played this season. A three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glover at second base, Phillips played the bulk of his career in Cincinnati before spending last year with the Braves and Angels.
The Red Sox do not know if and when their own veteran second baseman Dustin Pedroia (knee) will resume baseball activities, never mind play again this season, and Eduardo Nunez has not delivered as expected, especially defensively.
Phillips will likely need a couple of weeks to get into shape before being assigned, most likely to Triple-A Pawtucket.
Sox manager Alex Cora was asked if he and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski are speaking more frequently with the trade deadline virtually a month away.
“We’ve been talking a lot since February, so it is nothing new. Everyone gets caught up on this part of the year,” said Cora. “You know what you’re doing well and what you can do better. Honestly, most of the conversations are about the guys in the clubhouse. We feel that this is a good group. We can improve a lot of things with this group. We know that this is the part of the year where everyone talks about trades and all that, but we’re very pleased with what we’re doing here.”
Checkup time
While the Red Sox are in New York this weekend, Pedroia and Steven Wright will check in with the surgeon who performed cartilage restorations on their knees, Dr. Riley Williams III of the Hospital for Special Surgery.
“We’re going to be there, so might as well,” said Cora. “Just see him, see what he thinks, you know, if there’s anything we can do differently as far as the treatment. I think it’s perfect timing.”
Catching analysis
With the Red Sox ending the first half of their season last night, Cora gave an honest appraisal of catchers Christian Vazquez and Sandy Leon.
“Inconsistent, but I do feel that defensively (Vazquez has) been a lot better the last three weeks,” said Cora. “Preparation has to do with it. And also offensively, he had that big home run in Houston. One thing about him, he is so conscious about going the other way that sometimes he gets caught up in that and it doesn’t help him. I feel that he can pull the ball and we talk about it and he’s been a lot better the last few weeks.”
Cutting his playing time and increasing Leon’s has helped both.
“He was playing a lot early, he was playing, what, four out of five games, little by little, Sandy started playing more and I think both of them have benefited from that,” said Cora. “First of all, physically it helps him and second of all, I think competition is always good. They get along good. They help each other out but at the end of the day, you want to be the guy that plays more than the other guy. Both of them are doing an outstanding job.
“If you put them together now, we have a good, complete catcher. They’re getting on base.”
Defense, though, will always remain the most important attribute.
“Sandy’s been consistent the whole season but Christian, lately, has been a lot cleaner, even presenting pitches,” said Cora. “I always thought the last few years he was getting caught up on the whole ‘he’s a great defensive catcher’ and he wanted to be a better defensive catcher when what he had was good enough. I think he’s getting back to who he was. More cleaner, more quieter behind the plate, calling the game with more conviction. He’s preparing a lot better and the last few weeks, he’s been the guy that we envisioned in spring training.”
Workman improves
Reliever Brandon Workman had a particularly sharp inning Tuesday night, a 15-pitch outing that included a strikeout of Mike Trout. Cora sees an improvement from Workman’s spring training, when he could not earn a spot on the team.
“The most important thing is to maintain that velocity,” he said. “For the way they played here last year, all the extra-inning games and then the way they had to use the bullpen, well, I think he pitched a lot for him to come back from surgery. It was the nature of the season, they needed to do that. One thing in spring training, regardless of the velocity, he wasn’t good enough, honestly. His fastball wasn’t a good one, the breaking ball obviously, it didn’t have that bite that he had now, and he realized it. He had some tough outings in Triple A too early in the season . ... He’s been good for us. Give us some big outs in some certain situations and we’re very pleased with the way he is throwing the ball.”